A Child's Grace
by rewritethestars
Summary: When the body of an abused child is found, does the case hit to close to home for Bones? Or is it Booth who ends up dealing with his past? Future fic.
1. A Rude Awakening

This is a story I have been working on for some time. I wrote it originally before we found out what Mini BB's gender was, so yeah... And for anyone reading my Christmas Countdown one shots, this does not take place in the same universe, as the kids of B&B have different names, and genders and ages and such. Also, do be warned, there is Hannah-ness, because I honestly liked her, and I felt that her storyline was not completely over yet. But if you don't like her, don't worry, because she probably won't be around until the second story. This takes place sometime in the future, around spring of 2012. Also, I have noticed much debate about Parker's age, and for the purposes of this story, he is 12, and in sixth grade. So that's just making that clear. I just realized how bad I am at explaining myself (It's kind of hard to rationally explain my completely irrational thoughts, so I just hope you understand my train of thought.) , so I'll just get on with the story now… I hope you enjoy it, and that it isn't too OOC. I only began watching Bones last April (because when it first aired it apparently wasn't appropriate material for a six year old. =P), so I don't know how good I am at keeping things in character (have you ever noticed that character could technically also be pronounced CHAR-ACTOR?). Also, please learn to ignore my random tangents… they happen a lot…

Rating: T for violence and gore and all of the things that make Bones Bones. This chapter itself is a K, and the story will never go above T (for at least six years...), so sorry to all of you M lovers out there.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bones. I wish I did though, because then I could live in California, which I know is much warmer than New Jersey. Well, I think it is. Just guessing, because it's all south and palm tree-y and such. I've never actually been to California, though, so anyone can correct me on that. I was supposed to go over Thanksgiving. That didn't happen… Anyway, so yeah Bones= HH and SN and those other people. Laptop and HW that I should be doing instead of writing fanfiction= ME.

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><p><strong><span>Chapter One: A Rude Awakening<span>**

Seeley Booth rolled over in his bed when the sound of a cell phone woke him up. He groggily reached out to grab his phone and answer it.

"Booth," he groaned, knowing that the outcome of this conversation would not be good. He listened to some agent other end long enough to find out that a body had been found, and where it was located. "Yeah, great. We'll be there." He hung up and glanced at the clock. _Who the heck finds a body at 1:00 on a Sunday? _He got up and glanced at the doorway of his bedroom, only to see his girlfriend standing there, holding his son. _Girlfriend._ He still couldn't believe it was true, even after 1 year and a kid, but it was. Temperance Brennan was his girlfriend. _And perhaps someday, something more, _he thought. He smiled at her. She looked so beautiful, even though she was probably exhausted. Her face looked drained, her cerulean eyes were tired, and her auburn hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, but to him, she was the most beautiful creature on Earth. And she was his.

"We have a case?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yeah," he glanced at her, his warm brown eyes were concerned, "I can take a squintern, if you would prefer… I know Isaac has been keeping you up… if you're too tired…"

"It's fine, Booth. Zak has been keeping you up just as much as he's been keeping me awake. I can go."

Booth was still doubtful. "Sure, Bones, he might be waking me up, but I just go back to sleep. You actually get up. I can deal with a squintern- preferably Wendell- for one case, if it means you getting your rest."

"I'm going, Booth. I am sure Angela won't mind watching Isaac for a few hours. You know she doesn't."

"Yeah, she just wishes Zak had ended up a girl." Booth laughed.

Bones walked over, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "Here. Hold Isaac while I get changed. Then we can go."

Booth couldn't help but smile. Even exhausted from caring for a 5 month old, she was still his Bones.

Fifteen minutes later, she had finished changing and grabbed her forensic kit as Booth picked up Isaac's things and threw Brennan's jacket at her.

"Put it on. It's cold outside."

"Booth," whined Bones, already knowing this would be one of the very few arguments she would lose to Booth. She shook her head as she put on the jacket, muttering: "Damn egotistical alpha male."

"But you still love me," Booth grinned cockily.

"Maybe." She walked out of the door of their townhouse, smugly grinning at the stunned expression on Booth's face.

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><p>So, was that a good chapter? And just clarifying, Booth and Bren's kid is named Isaac Brennan Booth, nicknamed Zak. I thought it would be a nice way to honor Zack in a way that was not overly obvious. And you all know what Booth meant about Angela wanting Mini BB to be a girl. Also, I named this file Newton originally, mostly because I was working on a school project about Newton's Laws of Motion, and I mixed the documents up, but I wanted to know if anyone would be interested in me incorporating that into the story, perhaps as part of the case…or perhaps something else… Plus, the kid's name <em>is<em> Isaac… Anyway, please review. I have already written the next chapter, it's just a matter of when I'll post it…Not that I'm holding my story for ransom or anything…


	2. Strawberry Fields Forever

I just wanted to say that one story will be the equivalent of one case, with added scenes that typically won't be seen in an episode. Also, for anyone reading my Christmas Countdown stories, I am still writing them each day, but I have decided to wait until Christmas to post them, so they will all be posted on one day. And a warning: I was listening to music while writing this, and the playlist was greatly varied, so the mood sometimes changes quite abruptly, and I really couldn't figure out how to keep the mood the same throughout the chapter without rewriting the entire thing.

Rating: T for the chapter, because of implied violence and dead bodies

Disclaimer: I do own Bones. I also own all of the unicorns, lollipops and candy/sugar of the world (I don't actually like candy, though…). And one day I shall rule the world! Mwahaha! Now, I must feed my pet platypus. He lives in my bath. Don't tell my mother. Did you know that platypuses are poisonous? Wait, did VNM say that in an episode? I am not delusional. I rant, but I am not delusional. Even the voices in my head agree with me... Fine, you win. I do not own Bones. All characters (except for Isaac Brennan Booth, Neal Edmund Kensington IV (aka Pretentious Snob, aka Rebecca's boyfriend), the staff and students of The Ambrose-Hawley School (Except Parker), the Raimondi family, the Jansen family, the Cantwell family, and the Aslan family) belong to HH and SN and all those awesome people.

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><p><strong><span>Chapter Two: Strawberry Fields Forever<span>**

Temperance Brennan walked into the building housing the Hodgins' apartment, followed by Booth, who was carrying Isaac. They walked together into the elevator, and rode together in a comfortable silence. Tempe couldn't help but remember last winter, when she and Booth had gotten stuck in an elevator during a blizzard. That had been… interesting. As the couple stood together, Booth wondered aloud.

"Why is it that the same song always plays in elevators?" He gazed at Bones, wondering if she knew an anthropological reason. He was surprised when she began to laugh at the randomness of the question. He became slightly indignant, saying, "It was a serious question!" But he couldn't be mad at her for long, and soon joined in on her laughter. They both stopped laughing, and composed themselves long enough to walk out of the elevator. And straight into Hodgins.

"Dr B! Booth! You're dropping Zak off with Ange? Here, I'll open the door for you." Hodgins quickly unlocked the apartment door, and Bones walked in with Isaac. Booth and Hodgins stayed outside. Booth looked at Hodgins.

"What did you do, bug man?" He asked

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Hodgins turned quickly away from Booth.

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><p>"Hey, Ange!" Brennan called out, seeing her friend sitting on the couch. Angela turned around.<p>

"Hey, sweetie," she responded, standing up. Seeing Isaac, she reached over to take him from Bones' arms. "And hello, Mini Studly." She grinned down at the sleeping baby.

"Angela, I'm not sure I like the idea of you calling my six month old son 'Studly'."

"Relax, Bren. I'll let you call my 14 month old son studly," Ange grinned at the expression on her friend's face, then paused, "Come on, we better go check on the boys."

Temperance laughed, "I'm sure leaving them alone for a minute will not pose an imminent threat to society."

Ange smirked at her. "How long have you worked with Jack, again?"

"Good point." Brennan immediately got a worried look on her face, "There aren't any explosives in the hallway, are there?"

The two women glanced at each other, and almost ran to the doorway, shocked to see the two men standing there, amiably, with no sign of immediate danger.

"Well, that's a new one," commented Angela drily, "Alright, go find some rotting corpses and insects and dirt. I'll babysit." The three other people glanced at her. "I cannot believe I just said that."

"Thanks, Ange." Tempe and Booth walked away, followed by Hodgins, who was muttering under his breath.

"It isn't dirt."

"Of course not, bug man."

"Dr Hodgins, could you just shut up about the dirt for once?"

The two men stared at her.

"Well, somebody's grumpy today."

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><p>45 minutes later they arrived at the crime scene. It was a large park in a suburb near the other side of DC.<p>

"Hey. I know where we are. This is near Rebecca's house. I used to take Parker here when Rebecca decided she didn't want me to have him for the weekend."

Hodgins read the sign for the park. "Strawberry Fields," he raised his eyebrows at Booth, "If there are any unexplained walruses or submarines in this case, I'm out."

Bones looked at them. "What if there are depressed skull fractures with silver particulates in them?"

"I don't even know what I'd do."

"Okay," Booth clapped his hands together, "Let's stop this Beatles fan club and go look at a decomposing corpse."

Bones laughed at the absurdity of the statement, and her and Hodgins followed him to where a blond police officer was waiting for them.

"Officer Eric Wyatt," he stuck his hand out to be shaken, only to have all three walked straight past him, "Okay then."

Booth turned around. "Special Agent Seeley Booth. These are Doctors Temperance Brennan and Jack Hodgins of the Jeffersonian. Dr Brennan is the forensic anthropologist. Dr Hodgins is an entomolgist."

"I would like to see the body now," spoke up Bones.

"Of course," replied Officer Wyatt, "Right this way."

As they walked, Booth began to question Wyatt.

"Who discovered the body?"

"It was some neighborhood kids," replied Wyatt, "Yakup Aslan, Ellen Jansen, and the Cantwell twins, Sara and Tyler."

"Why were they in the woods at 1:00 in the morning?"

"They're teenagers, Agent Booth. They live close by, across the street."

"Are there any other neighbors who may have seen something?"

"Well, the Raimondi's property backs up to the park, as does the Stinson's. The Aslan's, Jansen's, and Cantwell's live across the street from them."

"The teenagers you mentioned found the body. You said their families all live across the street. Do the Raimondi's have children?"

"Yes, but their oldest daughter is only eleven. She wouldn't have been with the teenagers."

"Okay. Thank you." Booth began to walk away, but noticed the officer's green eyes were still on him, "Yes, Officer?"

"I was just wondering why you didn 't ask about the Stinson's kids," replied Wyatt.

"Because I know the Stinson's," he walked over to Bones, "Alright then. Bones! Whattaya got for me?"

Brennan looked down at the bones. "Bone length and teeth suggests early teen, approximately 10-14 years of age. The victim was too young to determine gender until we do a closer examination of the bones," she paused, her blue eyes flashing, but he couldn't tell if it was anger or sadness. Or both.

"What else, Bones?"

"There is evidence of the victim being abused. There are multiple fractures, all in different stages of remodeling, in almost all of the bones, including the skull." She looked at Booth.

"Maybe the kid was just a klutz," Booth suggested, knowing it wasn't true. Bones looked at him. "Yeah, I know. We'll find whoever did this, Bones."

"I know. We always do," she turned towards Officer Wyatt, "I need all of the bones and the surrounding soil transported to the Jeffersonian. And whatever samples Dr Hodgins needs."

"Sure." He turned away and started ordering the techs to do what she had requested.

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><p>So was it good? For any Beatles fans reading this, I hope you enjoyed the references. My friend was reading this, and she started laughing, saying it sounded like a conversation I would be having with her. Also, I did research how to identify skeletons, and I think I figured it out, but if there are any actual forensic anthropologists, who actually have studied this stuff feel the need to correct me, please do so. I also just wanted to tell you that I spent about forty minutes with a thesaurus, a dictionary and the voice of my writing teacher in my head, so I hope this is descriptive enough. And I finally got to use amiably in a sentence. Anyway, I welcome criticism, as long as it doesn't make me want to crawl into a dark cave and never come out. And of course I love positive comments; they make me all warm and fluffy. So, please review.<p> 


	3. Bad News

Sorry it's taken so long to update. I usually hate it when author's make excuses, but I started publishing this over November break, it is now Winter Break. My teachers decided to bombard with test and projects in between... Anyway, here is the next chapter of A Child's Grace.

Disclaimer- I do not own Bones. It is almost Christmas though...

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><p>8:00 AM-<p>

Booth walked into the spotless lab, squinting at the reflection of the sun against the stainless steel, and wasn't surprised to see all of the squints standing on the platform, waiting for for him.

"Alright, what d'you got?"

Angela spoke up, "I finished the facial reconstruction, and ran the sequence for the murder."

"Cause of death?" he looked toward Bones and Wendell.

"Because of all of the abuse, we have yet been able to determine precise cause of death yet," Brennan looked at him, "However, there was a bullet lodged in the skull, and Hodgins was running the particulates just now."

Booth looked at Hodgins. "And?"

"She literally meant just now. I haven't gotten results back yet." He pointed to the monitor on a table in the corner of the platform, where pictures and symbols were flashing up and then disappearing again, only to replaced by another seconds later

"What about time of death?"

"Based on decomposition and insect rate, and taking into account the cold winters slowing decomposition, approximately three years ago," replied Hodgins.

"'Kay," Booth mused, "That narrows the list down some." He handed the files to Bones. "You'll want to check them against Angela's reconstruction."

Brennan looked down at the files, considering them. "Her." She handed the file to Booth, showing him the picture. It was a pretty, young girl. She was smiling, and her grey eyes were lit up with joy. Her wavy sun streaked blond hair fell over her shoulders, and even into her face, but it didn't seem like she cared. She looked as though she had no cares at all, just an innocent kid, dreaming of her future, thinking that the cute guy who sat in front of her in class would be her husband one day. And then a few months later she was dead. (So, that's a no on the husband thing...)

"Milena Antonia Raimondi," he read, "Age 13. She was reported missing by her parents on June 13, 2009." He looked up at the squints. "Officer Wyatt mentioned the Raimondi's as the owners of one of the properties backing up into the forest where the victim was found."

Cam took the file and looked at the photograph of the smiling girl. "We should run dentals to be sure, but it seems to be a pretty good match. And the location fits."

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><p>12:00-<p>

Booth stood before the front door of 177 McKinley Lane, preparing to knock. No matter how many times he did it, informing the families of victims that their loved ones were gone had never gotten easier. He felt the concerned gaze of his partner on him, as he raised his fist to the door. Moments later a man and woman opened the door.

"Paolo and Annalisa Raimondi?" Seeley asked. The man nodded, somewhat reluctantly, a look of fear and concern on his face. Booth couldn't tell if he was afraid that they would tell him his daughter was dead, or if he was afraid that they knew he did it. _Don't make assumptions without all of the facts._ His partner's voice echoed through his head, and he subconsciously glanced over at her before looking back at the couple before him. "Special Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI. This is my partner, Dr Temperance Brennan, of the Jeffersonian. May we come in?"

The couple nodded, and tears started to form in the woman's eyes. "Dr Brennan," Annalisa spoke, "My daughter loves your writing."

"Milena?"

"No, my other daughter, Francesca. She says you made her want to be a forensic anthropologist when she grows up." Annalisa smiled at the thought of her young child's hopefulness.

"Well," Booth looked at the couple, "If you know what kind of doctor Dr Brennan is, I'm sure you've figured out why we are here…"

"I assume you found Milena," Paolo seemed to be shaken, but Booth reminded himself again that both parents were prime suspects.

"Yes. We found a body in the park yesterday, who we have confirmed to be your daughter."

Annalisa let out a choked sob, and covered her mouth with her hand. Booth looked at her husband. "Mr Raimondi, if you don't mind me saying, you don't seem very surprised."

The man looked at the agent, not appearing offended. "After three years, you lose hope of them coming back to you alive."

Booth nodded, appearing to accept the answer, but not really knowing what to say. He had no idea how he would react if someone told him that either Isaac or Parker were dead.

"Were you aware of your daughter having any enemies? Or maybe someone she was scared of? A teacher, a coach, a classmate's parents? Maybe someone she saw standing near the school who seemed out of place?" asked Tempe.

"No," replied Mrs Raimondi, "Milena was..." the distraught mother looked at the partners, "Everyone loved her. She was involved in a lot of different activities, so she had many different friends in all groups, even the people most kids her age would ignore. You know how middle schoolers can be about stereotypes. But Milena didn't really care. She ignored all of the stereotypes, and was just friends with the individual person."

Booth smiled. "She sounds like a wonderful girl."

"Could we talk to your other children? We've noticed that sometimes kids notice more than adults, they may have seen something." Tempe spoke up, glancing at the two parents.

"Only Francesca would know anything. The twins, Giovanna and Marco were only 2 when Milena went missing. I doubt they knew much about Milena's life. And our other son hadn't even been born yet."

"Would it be possible for us to ask Francesca a few questions?" questioned Booth.

"Yes. She's next door, working on a project for school," was Paolo's answer.

"Fun," muttered Seeley under his breath, but only Temperance heard him, and she nearly laughed at Booth's reluctance to see Rebecca.

As they walked down the path, Bones looked at Booth. "At least you get to see Parker," she said optimistically. Booth snorted.

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><p>Minutes later the agent and anthropologist were standing before the brick colored front door of 179 McKinley Lane. Booth knocked on the dark wood, which was quickly opened by none other than Rebecca Stinson.<p>

"Seeley!" The blond woman appeared confused. Booth didn't blame her. After all, he didn't often show up on a Sunday afternoon with no prior warning.

"Hey, Bex. Could I come in?"

"Um, sure, I guess. Do you want to talk to Parker? He has some friends over from school," Rebecca looked at him.

"Not exactly. We're actually here for a case. We were speaking to the family next door, and they said we could find their daughter here. Francesca Raimondi."

A look of understanding and disappointment crossed her face, and she stepped aside to allow to climb the stairs. "They're in his room. That poor family. Milly was a great girl."

"So we've heard."

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><p>How'd you like it? Please review. Only your reviews will save me from my family over the holidays...<p> 


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